In over 10 long years, this hobby has done very little for me. Sure I know a herb or two for a bad cough or a saw knee. Sure I have a general idea about biology and medicine. But in truth this art has done me much more harm than good. Cost me and absolute fortune, as you all well know, and has led to mostly feelings of failure and worthlessness more than anything else; and hey, let's not even mention how badly it's isolated me from family and friends... As a failing alchemist that's just part of the job... And at the end of the day, I did this to help people and I can't even help myself so.... That's it. Done.

If any Aussies are looking to buy second hand lab gear then let me know.

I am just working on making the Stone only from now on. Spagyrics can get fucked. She used and abused me.

Let my intensive lifetime failure be a lesson to any beginners, not that you shouldn't take up the art. Just take it slowly and master the basics instead of diving into an ocean without a lifejacket.

Comments

Yes, it is long overdue time that you finally face an incontrovertible fact: no secret solvent = no Stone! No amount of tap-dancing around this is going to change that fact. No "Pulvis Solaris", no "condensed rays of the Moon", no "SM", no "AC/DC", no amount of weird uncorroborated claims and voodoo rituals are going to alter this anymore than they will stop gravity from working. Until you discover how to prepare it (by means of the appropriate combinations of substances and reactions, which is how alchemists always worked, no matter what some of them maliciously want to mislead you into thinking otherwise; alchemy was, is and always will be an EMPIRICAL science) you will only fail. Hocus Pocus approaches won't work. You might as well try "rain-dancing" to produce the Stone! But it's NOT going to be a substitute for the secret solvent. THERE ARE NO SUBSTITUTES! You don't discover how to prepare it, YOU FAIL. No "ifs" or "buts" here.

Don't worry, one of these days (in the distant future, though) I will be releasing much more detailed information about "chymical" transmutations. If you are still around, you will be able to carry some of these out on your own and prove to yourself the empirical reality of transmutation. Just don't expect to get rich, though. The majority of such processes do not produce enough silver or gold to even pay up for the cost of carrying out the processes. So you actually end up losing money, but you gain something priceless in exchange: certainty that you are not working on some sort of "mad" and "hopeless" endeavor, as most people nowadays would like to try to convince you of. Once you realize the reality of transmutation this big psychological obstacle is removed and you know that your efforts are certainly NOT in vain.

About "swirling vortexes": yes, I have magnetic stirrers. They come in very handy. And I don't just mean for the purpose of common chemical operations, but also for some "chymical" ones. The old "chymists" did not have things like electric stirrers, grinders, air-compressors, etc., they had to do such things by hand, or with animal or water power (if they had access to them.)

I would love to merge brains with you in regards to your chymical transmutation work.

And then...

Originally Posted by elixirmixer

I would like to give the simple "silver & yeast" experiment. Could you give me some directions?

After solemnly and dramatically declaring that you're "just working on making the stone from now on", now you want to talk "chymical transmutation" and also get directions for "silver and yeast". Not long ago you wanted to volatilize salts with oil and were asking about ethanol. Last year you were advertising for apprentices as if you're some alchemical mentor and now you're bitching about your miserable failures. Who knows what you're going to come up with next. No wonder you don't seem to be getting where you want to. Just set your definite purpose and define your research goals clearly, devise a model, test it in the lab, refine (or change) the model accordingly, repeat/continue. Your mind is way to scattered to (paraphrasing your buddy) "accomplish anything worthwhile"

Get your shit together and focus, man! Cut down the levels of distortion, modulate the volume, improve your signal-to-noise ratio - and then the goodies will start flowing. Maybe

And rid yourself of any preconceived notions that you may have about pretty much everything!

Also, don't just erratically ask/throw around questions without providing some context first. Questions like "how do I volatilize" or "can you give me directions on silver and yeast" are less likely to lead to helpful replies. Contrary to the popular saying, there IS such a thing as a "dumb question". However, the "dumb" is not in "what", but in "how" you ask. Bring some fucking context to the table first, ideally from your own lab work so far.